What better time to start really cooking again than the advent of the winter season? Daylight Saving Time leaves us on Sunday, Oct. 30, and, though we get an extra hour of sleep and begin rising in the light, we will be going home from work in the dusk. The gardening is done, the lawn no longer needs mowing and, most importantly, the harvest is in.
Two classes offered by the College of Southern Idaho Blaine County Center in Hailey are taking their cue from the season and the kinds of fresh foods available.
First up is one to get us in the party throwing (and going) mood. Stephanie Hansen, formerly a sous chef at the beloved and now defunct Italian restaurant Piccolo in Ketchum, will demonstrate how to create great holiday party foods to dazzle guests and make festivities more memorable. Dubbed Party Foods 101, the one-evening cooking class will provide creative ideas for hors d'oeuvres as well as practical preparation tips. Hansen, who also ran a health food store kitchen in Salt Lake City, loves preparing party foods.
"That's where it's at for me," she said. "How to shop and what to have on hand-simple things that you can throw together at the last minute. My mother inspired me. It was homemade everything. This kind of food is easy to prepare in advance. They're things you'd want to have on hand."
Hansen, whose day job is with The Nature Conservancy, is a convert to the idea of locals offering to share skills with others through CSI.
"I agreed to do this is because I feel Dr. Jenny Emery Davidson is doing a great job as director of the Blaine County Campus of CSI and I want to support her and feel the program is a great asset to the community."
The class is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Internet Café at the Community Campus in Hailey. Tuition is $30 and space is limited.
The following week, on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., CSI offers Wild Cooking with Ric Lum, chef and owner of Buffalo Bites in Ketchum and caterer for many high-end events.
From soup to nuts, Lum will lead students through the process of creating an entire gourmet meal of seasonal and wild foods. He is a particularly fond of utilizing hard-to-find game in his gourmet dishes.
In this unique class, Lum, who has created meals for everything from an annual Chinese New Year dinner at nexStage to an intimate dinner for writer and gourmand Jim Harrison, will demonstrate how to make appetizers, entrees and desserts.
The class will also take place at Internet Café at the Community Campus in Hailey. Tuition is $75.
For both classes, register through the CSI office, 788-2038.
Chef Ric Lum (and a helper) preps food for the annual Council Circle Chinese New Year Banquet. Express photo by Dana DuGan
